


Step in time

by Akabit



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 07:03:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11008374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akabit/pseuds/Akabit
Summary: Viktor can travel back in time to five critical decisions in his life.  At 28, he realized that he lived the previous year of his life wrong.  This time he is going to Japan to coach Katsuki Yuuri.





	Step in time

**Author's Note:**

> Hi All, 
> 
> Has it really been over a year since I last posted fic? Oops. My kids are getting old so I lost my nap time writing sessions. 
> 
> I have been distracted by the Yuri on Ice fandom. I must write time travel in all my fandoms. I can never resist :-) I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Anika

Viktor was not the embodiment of agapee.  The emotion kept slipping away. Usually, he could count on competition to inspire him to greater emotion than he could find in practice, but he knew it wouldn’t work this time unless he made a change.  His performance was diminishing.  If it was just aging, Viktor would have relished the challenge of finding new ways to skate with a more mature body.  At 28, Viktor was the oldest competitor in the Barcelona Grand Prix Final. He could count on his years of experience balancing out the fact that he didn’t have as much stamina or flexibility as some of the younger competitors. No, the problem was mostly mental.  He was tired, his knee hurt, and he was failing to connect with his programs.  Viktor was in third place going into tomorrow's free skate and he knew he deserved to be.

‘I’m going to retire after this competition,’ Viktor decided and the thought echoed in his head in the special way that indicated a setpoint.  Before, setpoints had always been times when he recommitted to skating.  This time, Viktor was certain, it reinforced the end.  He could travel back to the second when he made the life changing decision, but he knew this decision would stick.  He was done.

Viktor gathered himself to practice the last jumping pass of his free skate.  If this was going to be his last competition, he wanted it to be perfect.  Viktor would skate his unconditional love of his sport.  As he left the ground, he immediately felt the jump go wrong.  Viktor crashed to the ice with his knee at the wrong angle.  Before the pain could register, he jumped back in time.  There was no need for him to retire with a messed up knee.

It was always slightly disconcerting to mentally travel into his previous self, but this time he had just jumped back about thirty seconds.  The only real difference was that he was uninjured.  Practice had to be over for today.  If he rested and iced his knee, he should be okay for the free skate tomorrow.

The next day, Viktor found that he was enjoying the competition more than he had in years.  He watched each skate with rapt attention and threw flowers to all the competitors after they completed their routines. 

“You should go stretch,” Chris advised after the second skater finished. He seemed slightly puzzled by Viktor’s attitude, but happy enough to join in.  He was in second place going into the free skate so he had time to hang out.

“I’d rather watch Altin skate,” Viktor replied without taking his eyes off the ice.  Why had he stopped paying attention to his competitors? It was fascinating to see the unique style and energy each one brought to the ice.

Chris turned and gave Viktor his full attention. “What has gotten into you?” He asked.  Chris’s voice was teasing, but Viktor knew Chris was concerned.

“I hurt my knee,” Viktor replied which was both true and completely misleading.  Chris hissed in sympathy.

“Are you going to be okay to skate?”

“Yes,” Viktor replied. “But it might be your last chance to beat me.” Chris pulled Viktor into a one arm hug and Viktor felt nostalgia for the relationship Chris didn’t know had ever happened.  Viktor was the only one to remember those three timelines.  

When it was his turn to skate, Viktor gladly propelled himself to the center of the ice.  While waiting for the music to start, he breathed in the atmosphere and the anticipation.  Viktor felt more inspired than he had in years.  He performed the first half of his routine effortlessly.  The music flowed through his body and he felt the hushed energy of the crowd that signaled he had them all in the palm of his hand.  It was a perfect final performance until the final jump.  As he took off for the quad loop something pinged in his knee and before he understood what was happening, Viktor found himself laid out on the ice.  

Viktor tried to stand to finish with dignity, but his leg wouldn’t hold him.  He fell back down with a wince and heard the music stop.  A medic entered the rink and started skating towards him.  

This was wrong.  Viktor had just refound his love of skating and now it was over.  Going back to the previous setpoint wouldn’t help.  There must be some stress injury to his knee that was causing it to give out.  No, Viktor would have to go back further.  Fortunately, he had five setpoints to choose from. The setpoint before last night was just under a year in the past.  That should be enough time to prevent his injury.  

Viktor cast himself back and found himself sitting on the couch in his apartment holding a cell phone.  On the screen, a dark haired man started skating to Stammi Vicino.

‘I remember this,’ Viktor though. He could distantly recall watching  Katsuki  Yuuri skate his routine with more lyricism than Viktor had ever managed.  Last time, he had been too heart sick that the Japanese man had rejected him to appreciate the performance.  It hurt that Yuuri had given him one of the most magical nights of his life and then disappeared.  This time, with longer to get over his feelings, Viktor could find joy in watching the skate.  The video had been the last time Viktor had seen Yuuri.  Viktor assumed that Yuuri must have retired.  Viktor had looked for him at every competition, but he never appeared.

‘I can change this,’ Viktor decided.  Time travel had never been about perfecting his own performances or winning competitions.  There weren’t enough setpoints for that to be feasible. And anyway going back to a different point in his body where his muscle memory didn’t match his mental model was not helpful.  He had learned that the hard way when he tried to repeat a year to allow his skating to adjust better to his teenage growth spurt.  Resetting to an earlier stage of puberty had been deeply disorienting.  Besides living the same situations over again was boring.  He had to make big enough changes to keep things surprising.

Viktor was going to Japan.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! All comments and questions are welcome. I also play on [tumblr](http://ankabit.tumblr.com/). Stop by and say hi :)


End file.
